I have been sulking for days now after I had a conversation with the king. I tried to go to his chamber every day, but he had already banned me. I haven't heard anything about Min Yun's doings either. I was sulking, not knowing what to do. I tried to open the book, but it never lit up. Maybe the last time it lit up was when the leaders from different countries visited our palace. I frowned. If only the book had warned me about this scenario, maybe nobody would have gotten hurt.
I threw the book on the floor. Now I felt like I was a useless character here, not even having the chance to catch the culprit.
Yeah, surely the mastermind had gone far away to hide. I didn't know how far, but I felt like they were running to avoid getting caught.
I sighed heavily and stood up. I went to my wardrobe and looked for my ordinary hanbok.
"What are you doing, Your Highness?" the servant asked me.
I looked at her, then answered, "Please allow me to go out."
My servant, whom I trusted, knew about my situation. She already knew the real me.
"But you are still the queen of this palace. You are still the wife of the king. You can't just go out like an ordinary person."
"I need to find the culprit as soon as possible."
"But, Your Highness, how?" her voice showed concern.
Yeah, right. How?
"Whatever. I just need to get out of the palace and start looking. I don't know where my feet will take me."
"I'll tell Captain Min Yun about this."
I stopped her by raising my hand. "Please, no. I don't want to add weight to the situation. I'll do this myself."
"You are getting stubborn again, Your Highness. You can't even defend yourself without a weapon."
Right. I couldn't even defend myself. Maybe I should just let myself die right away?
I looked at her with pleading eyes, like a puppy pleading with its owner.
"Your Highness…"
"My life is useless now. The king is mad at me—he even banned me. I can only redeem myself if I catch the culprit myself."
Just as I was about to grab the hanbok and change, the palace guards barged into my chamber without respect.
"What are you doing here, you disrespectful guards?!" my servant shouted at them.
I looked at them in horror and was about to shout when I heard Kim Man Shik speak.
"Long time no see, Your Highness," he greeted me with a playful yet evil smile.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"What should a minister of war do here?"
I frowned. I didn't know what he meant. He had been quiet for a long time, and then he suddenly showed up to me with his palace guards?
He then grabbed the rolled paper inside his hanbok and read what was written on it.
"The queen committed a grave sin by lying to people about her true identity. She was not the cousin of Min Yun and never part of the Park clan. By this act of the second highest rank of this country, I now declare her punishment to be a death sentence."
My eyes widened, and my mouth opened in shock after hearing Kim Man Shik's statement. Hiding my true identity means a death sentence? In our world, it was not considered a grave sin—especially if you had reasons for hiding your identity. But here? My punishment was death?
"Are you for real?" I asked, using the tone I used in my world.
"You speak like an alien," Kim Man Shik said.
"I don't care about the comment you're throwing at me. But this? A grave sin? Are you a fool?" Now, everything that came out of my mouth was out of control. Even the people around us were astonished by the language I was using.
"You deserve death."
"You deserve it too," I threw it back at him.
"And what makes you think I deserve it?"
"And why do you want to know?" I shot back, answering his question with another question.
He chuckled. "Grab her and put her in prison," he commanded, and the guards pulled my arms like I was a real culprit.
"Wouldn't you focus on finding the culprit who is a threat to the king? It was Ji Han and his twin!" I shouted even though I already knew that he knew. Remember when I saw him when I was captivated?
Kim Man Shik smiled like a foolish dog. He again commanded the palace guards to put me in jail. Little did I know, one of my servants had gone to the king's chamber to inform him about what had happened to me.
King's POV
"Please let me in."
I stopped reading the book when I heard voices outside my chamber.
"Aren't you a servant of the queen? You were banned from coming here."
"But I have something important to tell the king."
"Go away now, or the king might punish you," the eunuch kept on shooing the servant.
Hearing the word queen made my heart jump. It had been five days since I banned the queen from entering my chamber. For the last four days, she kept on coming here, but I didn't let her in. There were times when I saw her just standing there for hours before leaving.
"Let her enter," I shouted loud enough for them to hear.
The commotion outside stopped, and the servant entered my room.
She was trembling and panting, as if she had important news to give. She knelt on the floor and bowed her head.
"Kim Man Shik got the queen, Your Highness. He said that the queen will be punished with a death sentence," she said in a trembling voice.
I stood nervously. "Where did Kim Man Shik bring her?"
"She was put in jail, Your Highness."
As soon as I heard where she was, I ran as fast as I could to reach the jail she was referring to. I didn't mind the heaviness of my hanbok and the accessories that the king usually wore. This time, I only wanted to see the queen and save her.
But just as I was about to enter the jail, I saw Min Yun talking to the queen. I stopped myself from entering, and the scene where they kissed flashed in my mind. I clenched my fists as I felt the pain lingering through me.
I had been longing to see her for days, but seeing her now with Min Yun, all that longing vanished. I stepped back and left the jail.
I-jun/Teresita's POV
"Min Yun!" I called the moment I saw him enter the jail room. I felt at ease as soon as I saw him.
"I-jun!" he called back and went near the jail. "What happened?"
I started sobbing. "I... I thought you were angry at me, too. You haven't come to see me for four days," I said, letting out the emotions I had tried to hide for days.
Min Yun held my hands. "I'm sorry. I was just so busy with the king's case."
Upon hearing about the king's case, I stopped sobbing and wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Kim Man Shik did this to me. He said I will be facing a death sentence. "
I was expecting Min Yun to be as shocked as I was, but he didn't seem surprised. It was as if he had expected it.
"I've found evidence— even evidence from past events."
"What have you found?"
Min Yun sighed and revealed the information he had gathered.
Min Yun's POV
I was away from the palace for days. When the king said to end our friendship, it made me determined to finish the case he had. I wanted to end it all in one snap, and after this, I would resign from being captain and return to my hometown to live as a businessman. The king had already cut ties with me. There would be no reason for me to stay here when he didn't want me to.
I went to Shibuya Town, where I-jun had seen Ji Han. I went there alone, trying to figure things out. I went to the house where we had once stayed and found out that it was the twins' home. I stayed there for days, trying to look for evidence. I even went out to ask people about the twins, being careful so they wouldn't become suspicious of me.
On the last day of staying in their house, I found a secret door hidden on the floor. It wasn't even visible because it was covered by a thick carpet. I stumbled there and heard a creak— that's how I discovered it. I had a hard time opening it because of the lock, but I managed to force it open. It was dusty and dirty, which meant it hadn't been opened for a long time.
When I lifted the door, I saw a wooden ladder. I looked down, but it was completely dark. I searched the house for something I could use as a light.
With the light in hand, I climbed down the ladder. As I descended, everything was revealed to me— the evidence I had been looking for, and the people involved. I inspected each piece carefully, trying to grasp everything.
But what shocked me the most was a letter revealing the conversation between Kim Man Shik and Ji Han's twin about poisoning the former king. There was also an agreement written in the paper that this secret should never be revealed and should be taken to their graves.
All this time, everyone thought the king had been ill— but little did he know, it was all a lie.
Then I remembered, way back, when I told him to solve the former king's death case, but the king's son refused to do so. I had closed it like nothing happened and didn't even try to reassess it.
Now, I had everything I needed— the evidence that would make them all fall. It wasn't only the Minister of War involved in this mess. All of the ministers were part of it. And they should be punished.
I laughed at myself. I couldn't believe I was able to find everything in just days. All this time, we had been redirected like fools into an endless puzzle we had never solved.
I left Shibuya Town with the evidence in my hands. I would finish everything, save the king, and protect the queen.
I-jun/Teresita's POV
Upon hearing Min Yun's revelation, I was left stunned. I wasn't even shocked about Kim Man Shik's actions. His cunning tactics and his greed to be king in the future had made him evil. But evidence was evidence—it was more powerful than anything. At last, Min Yun had saved the king. The only problem we had left was finding the twins.
"My soldiers are looking for them now. I deployed hundreds across different places. I'll be waiting for updates."
I nodded and smiled. A while ago, I had been sobbing, but now my heart felt happy—happy for the king to finally have everything revealed, especially the truth about the past.
"Did the king visit you?" he asked.
I became sad and shrugged. "He banned me from coming to his chamber."
"He did?"
I nodded.
"I'll try to talk to him again."
"What if he just shooes you away?" I asked.
"At least I tried," he said.
I bit my lower lip. Looking at Min Yun's face, I could see he looked haggard and a bit older than his age. He was truly determined to finish the king's case and prove to him that he mattered to us.